Chapter II: The Antagonist
Riley blinked slowly to awareness and wondered why his head was hurting so much all of a sudden. He remembered following Ben and Abigail, trudging along in the dark cave looking for the Fountain of Youth, then...nothing. It bothered him that he couldn't recall immediately how he'd gotten from there to where he was now, lying flat on his back on a hard and uncomfortably cold surface, but the more he thought about it the worse his throbbing headache got.
He attempted to sit up or roll over so he could at least cradle his aching skull in his hands but found he couldn't move. When he tried to yank his arms up he was horrified to discover that they were stuck tightly in place at his sides by thick, rusted metal cuffs that wrapped around his wrists. He tried moving his legs, but his ankles were similarly chained. He shivered in terror where he lay on what he morbidly determined was a rocky slab most likely used as some kind of ancient sacrificial altar.
He swallowed hard and tried to distract himself from his rising panic by surveying his new surroundings. He was still somewhere in the Floridian cave, that much he could easily tell thanks to the fact that this particular room was artificially lit. Two bright lights stood off to the side, one with its beam pointed where he lay and the other glaring down over a metal table that was covered with shiny beakers and other science-y looking items. Riley didn't recognize them or their purposes, but his stomach flipped nervously when he considered his predicament and the instruments' implications.
Riley turned away from the table and found himself staring at the ceiling. The large lamps' reflections were dancing off of it, the way light would move if it were shining on water. Riley's eyes widened with realization. Though he couldn't see the pool from where he was lying he was absolutely certain that it was somewhere in the vast cave with him.
If he ever got out of the situation he currently found himself in, he was totally claiming Fountain of Youth discovery dibs before Ben and Abigail.
"Ah, Mr. Poole. You're awake."
The voice that suddenly broke the eerie silence startled Riley enough that he whipped his head around to find its source. He immediately regretted the action though as he had to squeeze his eyes shut to keep the room from spinning around him. Nausea turned his stomach and it took all his strength to swallow hard against his gag reflex so he wouldn't throw up on himself. He took a few deep breaths through his nose before opening his eyes a crack to see a pale blue buttoned dress shirt in front of his face. He blinked and turned his head back again so he could look up at the person who was wearing said blue shirt beneath a pristine white lab coat.
A balding, wrinkled man who looked to be in his seventies at least grinned back at Riley, his green eyes glistening maniacally behind square glasses perched on the end of his pointed nose.
"For awhile there I was afraid I'd killed you prematurely," he said with a smile. "Imagine my elation to see you conscious again."
Riley could easily see how happy the old man was, though that did nothing to make him feel any less frightened. He parted his dry lips to ask just what in the hell was going on when an old hand with long, gnarly fingers smothered his mouth.
"Shh," the man hissed. "Your friends are close by, but if you yell for them they will be killed long before they can come to your rescue. I need you to promise me you won't scream."
Riley's eyes widened at the threat and forced himself to nod as best as he could with the hand still over his mouth.
"Good boy." The hand pulled away, then lightly patted his cheek. The old man chuckled when Riley flinched away from the unwanted touch.
Then he stepped back and stared down at Riley with that disconcerting smile of his for a very long time before asking, "you don't even remember me, do you Mr. Poole?"
Riley could only stare stupidly up at him, confirming that no, he did not recall the crazy old man.
"I am Dr. Mitchell Farnsworth," he explained. "I met you and your friend Ben and the lovely Dr. Chase much earlier this morning in St. Augustine. I tried to steer you all in the wrong direction, telling you the history of the Fountain and where it was thought to be."
Riley vaguely recognized the old man now, though he had looked far less insane inside his office at the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. Ben had trusted the man and had never thought for a second that he was being deceived, even when the "good" doctor's advice had led them into a dangerous trap.
"I was sure the natives would frighten you off the trail," the doctor continued. "Especially after I informed them you were going to steal their holy waters. They've been protecting it for centuries, and it has taken me quite a while to earn their trust, as misleading as my intentions are."
He gestured over Riley towards another part of the cave, just beyond the table of scientific instruments. A large, darkly tanned man with fierce beady eyes glared at him from the shadows there. His slick, dark hair was tied back at the base of his neck beneath the ragged bandana he wore on his head and his loosely buttoned white shirt, dark pants, and dark boots were rugged and worn to match. His overall appearance-coupled with the jagged scar that ran over one of his eyes and his shabby black beard-was that of a stereotypical pirate.
Normally Riley might have mocked the ridiculous manner of dress, but he was pretty sure this was the man who had forced him into his current disheartening situation and the same man who had led the attack on the treasure hunters earlier that day in Ponce de Leon.
"Their little faction was foolish enough to believe I was a harmless old man," the doctor continued. "In fact, after I told them about you and your friends that big, stupid oaf of a leader led me right to this place without any hesitation!"
Riley swallowed hard and glanced nervously over at the oaf in question who stood like a statue in the dim light.
"Oh don't worry," Farnsworth said with a laugh. "Alonzo doesn't understand a word of English, and he's more brawn than brain anyway."
The pirate called Alonzo didn't even twitch at the doctor's insults, though Riley could swear he saw a flash of something sinister in those dark eyes at the sound of his name.
"So here we are, at the sacred pool, yet I hesitate. Who knows what unpleasant aftereffects the waters may cause? I certainly am not ready to use myself as a guinea pig, and using Alonzo is, of course, out of the question. Then, just when I was beginning to contemplate taking drastic measures to attain what I desired, you and your friends walked into my office.
"I really never expected you to get as far as you did, especially after all you've been through today. But you persistent treasure hunters somehow managed to escape and find the true resting place of the Fountain. Alonzo believed you to be trespassers, and it didn't take much convincing to get him to snatch you up for me.
"I actually wanted your friend Ben," Dr. Farnsworth revealed with a heavy sigh. "He would have remembered me and this whole revelation would have been that much sweeter. Alas, beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. One undesired test subject is better than none."
Riley swallowed hard. "'T-test subject'?"
The old man grinned. "Yes, well, there is no factual record in history of the Fountain's effects on humans. They could be instantaneous, they could be devastating... If you survive I'll have to keep you for various tests to see if and how the chemicals in the water interact with the human body."
"If I survive?"
The doctor ignored Riley's horrified exclamation as he stepped away to take something from the metal table. He poked around his tools and eventually retrieved a small, glass vial before strolling purposefully out of sight somewhere behind his hostage's head. Riley couldn't arch his neck enough to see just what the old man was doing, but he could very clearly hear a soft plop of something being submerged gently into a body of water.
Riley softly cleared his throat and parted his dry lips. "To be honest I'd rather not be a part of your creepy little experiment," he said as confidently as possible despite the very fearful quiver in his voice. "And...and if you let me go now there could be a very nice car in it for you. D-did I mention it's a cherry r-red Ferrari?"
Farnsworth laughed, the sound echoing eerily through the cave. "I drive a Bentley Rolls-Royce Phantom VI, circa 1977. I daresay my own vehicle makes your little sports car look like a cheap toy."
"Wow, really? That's so cool..." Riley muttered absently while he pictured the classic car in his head. "Wait, no! Not cool!"
The doctor suddenly returned to Riley's line of sight with the vial now full of sparkling clear liquid in hand. Riley pulled uselessly at his restraints but the triumphantly grinning Dr. Farnsworth was unperturbed-clearly he didn't expect the young man would be able to escape.
"Hold still, Mr. Poole," he said like he was casually scolding a misbehaving child. "This will be easier for both of us if you do."
"No! No listen, man," Riley gasped. "I know I'm...that I can be totally immature sometimes...actually most of the time... I mean, just ask Ben, or Abigail, or Ben's dad, or Ben's mom, or that Sadusky guy..."
Farnsworth's skeletal fingers grasped Riley's jaw but Riley just kept babbling in the hopes that he could at least keep the inevitable from happing as quickly as it was.
"...They'll all tell you I already act like a kid on a regular basis, so see I really don't need to turn into one again. I went through puberty once, and it sucked, so I really really don't think I'd like doing it again..."
The doctor sighed. "Are you quite finished, Mr. Poole?"
"N-no..."
"Too bad."
With that the old man tightened his grip so he could hold Riley's mouth open and effectively shut him up. Riley renewed his struggles but Farnsworth held strong and brought the glass vial to the young man's face. Riley clenched his eyes shut, anticipating the worst and waiting for his short life to flash before his eyes...
"That is not a wise idea, doctor."
Both Riley and Farnsworth froze at the sound of a gruff, heavily accented voice and turned to stare at the large man who was emerging from the shadows. Alonzo had stepped forward and there was no doubt in Riley's mind that the native did in fact understand English.
"Alonzo, what-"
"I'm through humoring you with ignorance," the behemoth growled as he stepped right up to the trembling old man. "I have guarded this place for far too long to let someone like you take advantage of it. You want the holy waters so badly? Well here they are, and here you will stay eternally."
The doctor's eyes bulged at the larger man's threat. "Y-you can't do this to me! My life's work-"
"Was wasted," Alonzo stated bluntly.
When the doctor looked ready to protest again the larger man shoved him easily to the ground.
"H-hey what about me?" Riley called as he struggled in vain against his restraints. "You...you're gonna let me go, right?"
Alonzo turned, seemingly noticing the young man for the first time. He glared down at Riley with a look of disgust on his face.
"You and your friends are just as bad as him," he spat, nodding in the direction of Farnsworth who was still cowering on the floor. "You all deserve to be trapped here to die."
"'Trapped'?" Riley gasped. "But...I-I didn't even want to be here! And we weren't gonna do anything bad like Dr. Franken-creepy over there, I swear! We're just on a peaceful little mission for a guy-maybe you've heard of him-he goes by Mr. President. Of the United freaking States of kickass America-"
Riley's panicked rambling was silenced by a well aimed punch to his jaw.
"Good-bye, Mr. Poole," the large man growled, his voice sounding like a distant echo in Riley's ears. "I pity you and your wasted life."
Stars danced in Riley's eyes and he must have blacked out for a minute, because when he forced his eyes to focus Alonzo was gone.
"Crap," Riley groaned. He blinked away the lingering dizzying effects of this latest blow to his head and yanked on the chains around his wrists again. His desperate struggles and frantic squirming were of no use, forcing him to come to the conclusion that unless someone came to help him he was royally screwed.
A deep moaning echoed through the room and sent shivers down Riley's spine. He arched his neck and turned his head as far as he could until he saw the doctor slumped near the wall. The old man shifted and moaned again while Riley watched him.
"Hey, Ben!" he yelled as loudly and desperately as he could. Farnsworth had said his friends were close, he only hoped they were close enough to reach him before the crazy doctor woke up. "Ben! Abigail! I'd really liked to be saved right now! Pretty please..."
"...Ben!"
The treasure hunter froze mid step. "Did you hear that?"
Abigail strained her ears. "Hear what?"
"Abigail!"
"Riley!" they gasped simultaneously.
"I'd really like to be saved..." Riley's voice trailed off under the stamping of feet as Ben suddenly turned and dashed in the direction of the sound. Abigail was quick to follow.
They were just starting towards the glow of a distant artificial light when a deafening bang shook them off their feet. Ben instinctively covered Abigail's body with his own against the rain of small rubble that came down on them. After a long moment, the world steadied itself again.
"Ben," Abigail gasped. "Was that a...?"
"Bomb," Ben groaned back as he recalled the attack made on them earlier that day when the cult had used a very explosive concoction to blow up the treasure hunters' car. And now they were here, attacking them again while Riley was still missing.
Ben quickly got to his feet and hurried through the cave with Abigail's hand held tightly in his own.
"Riley! Where are you?"
"Riley!"
"Ben!"
The young man practically cried for joy. Ben's voice was getting significantly closer with each yell that wasn't drowned out by the rumbling of falling rocks. Even if they did end up trapped, at least Ben would be with him. Ben always had a plan for this kind of situation.
But the villainous Dr. Farnsworth apparently had plans of his own. Riley was so focused on Ben's voice that he didn't notice the doctor creep over to him with the vial of clear liquid still in his gnarly hands.
Without warning he grasped Riley by the face and pinched his cheeks to force his jaw open while he emptied the entire glass of liquid into the frightened young man's mouth. Riley choked and sputtered and couldn't help but swallow the concoction as it flooded his throat. The attack had happened so quickly and so violently that his brain didn't even get a chance to process that he was screwed.
When the vial was completely empty the doctor tossed it to the side so he could clutch Riley's face in both of his hands. The Fountain's effects were instantaneous-Riley abruptly stopped coughing and his blue eyes widened when he suddenly gasped and convulsed on the table.
"Yes!" Farnsworth cried, oblivious to the seizing body he was still grasping. "It's working! After all these years, the world will finally know the truth! And I will live FOREVER!"
Riley finally stopped twitching but the doctor was oblivious as he'd already raised his hands and eyes to the heavens in triumph while he cackled manically at his success. His cheering was short lived though, as another rumble shook the cave so violently that he was knocked off of his feet into sudden darkness. Stunned, the frail old man tried to push himself up only to be knocked back to the hard ground as a piece of the rocky ceiling fell and struck him on the back of his head. The last thing he saw were two blurry beams of light rushing into the room before unconsciousness took him completely.
"Riley!" Ben screamed. He'd just gotten a glimpse of his friend twitching on a large slab of rectangular rock while the doctor they'd met back in St. Augustine stood laughing over him. Ben briefly wondered what Farnsworth had to do with all this when an explosion suddenly knocked him off his feet. Rubble and dust were falling everywhere and one of the artificial lights that had illuminated the small cavern went out with a crash.
Then, after an agonizingly long rumble of destruction, the noise stopped and the ground was still. Ben was on his feet before the dust even started to clear and dashed in the direction he'd been originally headed with his flashlight sweeping the area erratically in his panic.
"Riley," he choked, coughing momentarily on the thick smoke that engulfed him. "Riley…where are you?"
He heard a crunch of broken glass behind him as Abigail stepped forward, and after a few hacks she was yelling along with him. "Riley!"
They were getting desperate when the dust finally started to disperse, leaving an almost perfectly clear path to the very center of the room where a body lay miraculously unharmed by the chaos around it. Ben didn't hesitate to run forward, even as he tripped over rocky debris and Dr. Farnsworth's still form. He came to an abrupt halt where Riley had been just moments before and stared, mouth agape in horror by what he saw through the dim beam of his light.
"Oh my God," he moaned.
He heard Abigail catch up to him and then stop with a gasp, her eyebrows raised in shock by who she too saw was lying there on the table. "Ben, who is that?"
Whew, I really dragged that out didn't I? What originally started as a maybe three shotter with short chapters has turned into quite a ridiculously epic little story :)
I posted this ahead of schedule because you guys were sooo good with the reviews on that first chapter! And I was so happy to read all your wonderful comments that I couldn't leave you hanging for too long :)
After this though I'll most likely be sticking to a schedule...say a post every five days, pending any major crises of course.